One thing that I have often lamented since becoming a mom is the lack of definite traditions in my family. This feeling deepened to a definite sadness after the loss of our matriarch, Madea. It seemed that with her passing, the few traditions we did have came to an end. As time has gone on, I have become more and more determined to start traditions with my son. After all, they have to start somewhere. So we have little things like movie night and game night. Even though we don’t do them every week, it feels nice to know that I have at least planted the seed.
Another tradition that I want to have is to develop a family recipe collection. This desire was kindled by my friend, Sarah, who has started her own passion project called Project STIR. her goal is to travel all across the globe, documenting heirloom family recipes that are passed down from one generation to the next. As I learned more about her project, I realized that this is something I should start doing. I should start collecting and creating recipes that I pass on to my son. I may have missed out on the opportunity to collect them from my great-grandmother, but there is still time to make sure that something is passed down to future generations – including my own contributions.
Sarah asked me if I would like to participate in her launch and I was honored to have been asked. Especially since I had determined that I would start some traditions of my own. However, I didn’t know what recipe to share. You see, I’m not really much of a measurer. I’m more of a "pinch of this, dash of that, season to taste" type of person. I experiment and pray and then (if it tastes good), I hope that I remember what I did. Lol! So I decided to share a recipe that is so easy you’d have to try pretty dang hard to mess it up.
Blueberry Crumble Pie
The story: One day I was randomly craving a pie. Not just any pie – a fruit pie with a crumbly topping. And I didn’t want a frozen pie. Or one from the bakery section of the nearest grocery store. I wanted a freshly baked pie. But I also wanted one that was quick and easy to make. So I went to Walmart to get the ingredients: fruit, pie crust, crumbly topping. I decided on blueberries because my son loves them and they were in season. I bought a graham cracker pie crust because…graham crackers. Then I tried to find a crumbly topping mix. I found one, but it had a whole mess of ingredients that seemed a bit complicated for a pie topping. So I decided I could probably just make my own. So I put the topping box down and decided that I would concoct my own crumbly topping once I got home. The "recipe" below was the result.
Ingredients:
Blueberries (I usually buy them fresh, but frozen works in a pinch) You just need enough to fill the pie crust.
Quick Oats
Brown Sugar
Butter
Cinnamon
Honey
Graham Cracker Pie Crust
Directions
1. Pour a heaping amount of quick oats and brown sugar in a big bowl and add cinnamon to taste.
2. Heat several tablespoons of butter and pour in above mixture until thoroughly moistened and crumbly.
3. Dump blueberries in pie crust and spread them out evenly. Drizzle with honey (aka bee vomit, as my son calls it; I typically ask him to put the butter back in the refrigerator while I add the honey because I love honey and am sneaky).
4. Spoon the crumbly topping on top of blueberries and spread it evenly.
5. Pop in a preheated oven (I randomly set it on 350 degrees because that seems like a good round number) until the crust is browned to your liking. I also like when the blueberries start to bubble up).
6. Let the pie cool, cut it up, and then serve by itself or with real vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
You can also make blueberry crumble tarts by using mini pie crusts.
Ok, so I realize that my recipe-recording skills kinda suck if you’re actually trying to recreate the dish, but I think that the fun of cooking is experimenting with the ingredients and switching things up to suit your tastes. (I promise I won’t quit my day job to become a recipe maven).
Now that I have shared my recipe, I want to direct some attention to Sarah and her project. Being completely serious, she has motivated me to try to collect some of the recipes from my family members that are always a hit at get-togethers. My grandma’s cookies. My great great aunt Rose’s cakes. My mom’s smothered chicken. My great aunt’s corn casserole. I think it would be really cool to have an authentic family recipe book. And I have Sarah to thank for the motivation.
If you can relate to this post at all, I urge you to check out Sarah’s Project S.T.I.R. Kickstarter page to learn more and help out as she travels the world documenting heirloom family recipes.
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